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2 interviews · 10 quotes
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In 2009, Kickstarter was born from a singular mission to help bring creative projects to life. Since then, 18.4 million people have collectively pledged over $5.23 billion into more than 186,000 projects.…
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Sophie Ellis-Bextor is one of the UK’s best known singer songwriters. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience, and went…
From the archive
I'll hope I have helped be more generative and less extractive, through my own actions, and through my support of others. We live in a world where we're constantly battling these forces and we need to ensure we're more generative than extractive — of each other, of our planet — I believe we can do it.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
Navigating complexity and uncertainty requires long-term thinking, not long-term planning. Long-term thinking requires accepting, even enjoying, the challenges of unpredictability, builds the flexibility required to navigate it, and rejects simplified narratives that lose the nuance of this reality.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
I believe businesses need to move away from having profit as their primary reason for existing, that's why we built Kickstarter as a public benefit corporation and encoded our mission into our fiduciary responsibility. Profit primacy can be replaced by mission primacy.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
What feels similar is the pursuit — by artists and entrepreneurs — of the actualization of an idea borne in their minds; and then pursuing bringing this vision to reality. Especially at the beginning, it takes just the right amount of delusion to dedicate yourself to something ambitious. The reality is you're more likely to fail than succeed and so you need strong belief to commit your heart and soul to an idea; as well as a bit of over-optimism (delusion) to make the sacrifices they are often called for to bring anything to life.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
The traditional sources of capital for ideas — investment, charity, rich relatives, grants — are nowhere near sufficient to the number of good ideas in the world. Now, the internet has democratized this, and you don't need to be wealthy to be a patron. You can help bring something to life with $10 because you like the project, not because you see it as a financial return.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
I believe businesses need to move away from having profit as their primary reason for existing. Profit primacy can be replaced by mission primacy.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
I strongly believe that art and creative work are essential to a healthy society.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
Now, the internet has democratized this, and you don't need to be wealthy to be a patron. You can help bring something to life with $10 because you like the project, not because you see it as a financial return.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
The traditional sources of capital for ideas — investment, charity, rich relatives, grants — are nowhere near sufficient to the number of good ideas in the world.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
Especially at the beginning, it takes just the right amount of delusion to dedicate yourself to something ambitious. The reality is you're more likely to fail than succeed and so you need strong belief to commit your heart and soul to an idea.
— Perry ChenFounder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer
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